


Age Of Inamoteph - Prologue 3 - 10 years ago

by MoonFireTiaraSoulAction



Series: Age of Inamoteph [2]
Category: The Night Land - William Hope Hodgson
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-11
Updated: 2018-11-11
Packaged: 2019-08-22 05:50:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,459
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16592027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MoonFireTiaraSoulAction/pseuds/MoonFireTiaraSoulAction
Summary: How long can the worst of mankind survive in the Nightland?





	Age Of Inamoteph - Prologue 3 - 10 years ago

Shuang saw the man and woman dressed in the same teal blue alaiscäl weave armor they had provided her with interrupt their conversation and turn to look at her as they noticed her approach through the darkness.

She looked up a dazzling height towards the Redoubt's spire. The only part of it, visible from the outside, that was not made of alaiscäl.  
Directly underneath it was the location of the Nightwatch, which would have alerted the guards of her approach far before they even would have sensed her if she had transmitted something to them.

#Tell them you have made a strange discovery.#

#If you make up a story you might make them believe you are a monstruwacan guard who got lost after an attack.#

#What are you doing to me?!#

#They'll never forgive you. They took everything from you.#

#Kill them. Use the knife you managed to grab before your banishment.#

But with the dozens of voices in her head, she couldn't even know who she would be transmitting to.

She never even knew of the monsters in the outside world before she had been exiled and felt terrified of their transmissions. They seemed to know everything she did.

She walked with more apprehension when the female guard grabbed her diskos from behind her back and pointed it in her direction.

#Stop in your tracks this moment or we will blast you on the spot!# The man beside the female guard transmitted sternly.

Shuang recognized his face from the group that had escorted her to the outside two weeks ago.

#You can't leave me here! I'm scared! They are transmitting to me all the time! I see people.# She told him.

#Turn back and leave alive. All outsiders who approach the Great Redoubt will be eliminated!# The woman transmitted the sentence they had repeated to her a thousand times by now.

#Hey little girl. Is your daddy home?#

#Why are you doing this to me?!#

#We can help you.#

#Come to us.#

"I'm scared!" She cried out, dropping to her knees and hanging her head. She considered weeping, but she knew all of this was pointless. They would never let her in.

#Attack them.#

#They are transmitting to me right now,# She whined, looking up at the guard. #They are telling me to go to them. I'm scared!#

#Turn back and leave alive. All outsiders who approach the Great Redoubt will be eliminated!#

#You are all so mean,# She sighed. #All I wanted to do was play with my pets.#

#You belong with us.#

#I'm watching you from inside the House Of Silence, Shuang. I know you miss me. You'll be safe here.#

#Let's play together.#

* * *

 

#You think she still hasn't figured out she might as well not bother anymore?# Oscar asked his colleague.

He saw Liu Lien frown while looking at the exiled girl sitting in the dirt.

#Are you going to be alright with this?# He added.

Liu Lien had a soft spot for children. She had wanted to become a teacher before the Monstruwacan Council notified her parents that she had been selected for monstruwacan training.

Her favorite part of their job was still information visits to teens who had discovered the truth about the Redoubt or had reached the age when they needed to know.

He knew this was probably hard on her.

#I've received the same training you did. I've got no problem with this,# His partner responded.  
#Even if we wanted to, there's nothing we can do for her... Just hearing the few things we needed to know about the trial made me feel sick.#

Liu Lien watched the girl rocking herself to and fro in the sand a hundred meters from them.

#She never even knew what was outside before she received her sentence.# She sighed.

#Yeah... That's hard. She's just a kid. But that's just the way it is,# Oscar concluded sympathetically, overlooking the horizon while keeping an eye on the girl. Ready for anything.

They were both extra warned of the possibility the outsiders might use the exile as a diversion.

#I know,# Liu Lien answered. #Because her crimes were so severe her age or background weren't allowed to be of consequence to the trial. I'm just saying... It would have been fairer to her if she had reached the age for an information visit.#

#She would have received one in a few years... If she had a home. If she hadn't been living alone in an officially sealed apartment she might not have done what she did, # Liu's colleague muttered.

#I know,# She agreed while scanning the girl's environment. #It would have been fairer on a lot of people if she hadn't.#

* * *

 

#I wish I still had my pets,# Shuang randomly transmitted to nobody in particular.

#Turn back and leave alive. All outsiders who approach the Great Redoubt will be eliminated!# Liu Lien tried again.

#I miss you, Shuang. Leave here. We will be reunited, at last,# Oboch's voice transmitted to the girl. But halfway the timbre changed to an eerie, more booming sound.

Maybe the monsters would be kind to her. They hadn't tried to eat her or harm her.  
They were only transmitting to her and making her see and hear people she knew couldn't be real.

#Are the monsters kind?# She transmitted loudly to the guards.

Liu Lien exchanged a quick look with her partner.#  
Turn back and leave alive. All outsiders who approach the Great Redoubt will be eliminated!# She repeated.

#Have you ever seen any of them?!# Shuang tried again. #Maybe some of them are kind. Perhaps not all of them eat people!#

She watched the guards stare at her and survey their surroundings, but neither of them could answer her.

#Come with me, Shuang.#

She heard a voice to her left and looked up to see a man who resembled the images she had found of her father in the data-cube at home.  
He smiled and held a hand out to her.

#Come with me. Together we'll find a way to take revenge on them for what they did to you.#

Shuang narrowed her eyes and gritted her teeth.

"Get away from me! You're not real!" She yelled.

* * *

 

The guards watched her lean toward her left and wave her arm at something above her.

#Tele-spirit,# Oscar stated mournfully.

#Yep. Won't be long before the Silent Ones have her go through hell.# Liu Lien frowned.

#I sometimes do wonder whether imprisonment might not be better,# her partner replied to her surprise.  
#Imprisonment or execution even would be more humane.#

#Everybody be on your guard!# They heard the Nightwatch transmit to them. #There's a single Ab-human coming your way at about four hundred meters from you, Oscar Douab and Liu Lien Gutmundsdottir. Direction: 11 o' clock.#

#Thank you for the warning, Nightwatch!# Oscar responded. He hadn't recognized the voice. It sounded young. Maybe one of the new monstruwacan.

#Thomas Belucci and Arduan Massar are joining you in two minutes. They're preparing in the assembly hall,# The young man high above them transmitted again.

#Kid, Come on. It's one exile who is in more danger than us and a stray ab-human,# Liu Lien transmitted to Oscar alone.

#He didn't make that decision himself,# Her partner responded with a grin.

#I know. Always be prepared for the worst. But really... # Oscar's younger colleague sighed.

Liu Lien could get annoyed at the boredom of guard duty sometimes. She should feel happy something is happening, Oscar thought.  
After surveying the horizon again he heard Thomas calling him.

#Hey Oscar. We are on our way. #

The sound of fast footsteps announced his friend's arrival.

#I heard you got an exile and a stray,# Oscar's long-time friend quipped.

#They won't come or go away,# He answered.

The men laughed over the lyric.

#She's squatting again,# Liu Lien said.  
#I'm going to tell her to leave again. For her own safety perhaps. That Ab-human might be coming for her. She should try to hide in the sand. It's almost nightfall.#

Oscar, Thomas, and Arduan observed the girl who was clutching the sand at her feet in both fists while hanging her head.

#Turn back and leave alive. All outsiders who approach the Great Redoubt will be eliminated!# Liu Lien transmitted again.  
#Just get out of here girl,# She added to her colleagues alone.  
#I don't want to have to protect you from that monster.#

#Oscar! Liu Lien! The ab-human is going towards the watcher of the north.  
Thomas and Arduan! Stand guard with them for an hour more, please,# The Nightwatch transmitted again.

#There you go!# Thomas smacked his partner on the back with a laugh.#I knew it wouldn't be twenty minutes before that stray was gone.#

#My beady eyes, man. I was practicing my guitar. Being on extra duty is such a pain,# Arduan sighed, Attaching his diskos to his back again.

* * *

 

Shuang looked up. Her head hurt.

#They are all laughing at you.#

#You just can't live with them anymore.#

#They took away all of your pets.#

#Shut up!# She screamed at the monsters. She clutched her head and looked at the guards.

There were more of them now.  
There were guards around the entire Redoubt, but the ones she had approached because they looked kind had been joined by two more.

Were they really going to kill her? She didn't want to die yet.  
She preferred banishment to that.

One of them looked very angry at her. Maybe it was best to go back to the dunes for safety.  
She could come pleading and complaining to them later.

* * *

 

#She's packing up,# Oscar observed as Shuang got upright, turned and walked back in the direction she had come from with a dejected expression.

#Good riddance,# Liu Lien muttered, attaching her diskos to her back.

#She's taking it rather easy, isn't she?# Thomas stated grimly while he crossed his arms and followed the girl with his eyes.  
The epitome of an immobile guard. He was still the record holder for the last days of training 'Cobalt Battle' tournament.  
#I'm glad nobody inside will ever have to know how casually that filth walks around out here. I should have thought the hell-hounds would have torn her to shreds by now.#

He nor Arduan knew anything about Shuang's crimes or past. Just like the great majority of the people in the Great Redoubt.

#She's seeing Tele-spirits,# Liu Lien told her formidable colleague. #She may be acting subdued, but I think the Silent Ones are going to take their time playing with her mind before they let their monsters get her. She probably never had telepathy training since she never went to school.  
This girl doesn't stand a chance out here.#

#I wish they'd just executed her. This is so disgraceful!# Arduan kicked up some sand under the surprised look of his partner.

#What's that supposed to mean?! She's an exile. Do you know what you have to have done to get exiled?!# Thomas exclaimed, looking the other man furiously in the eyes.

#Of course I know. She must have done terrible things. But she's still a human being.#

#Just barely, believe me# Liu Lien interjected.

#Every dead human being is one too many. That's why we don't execute criminals. And we can't allow victims to live their lives harboring resentment against the state, that's why we get rid of people like her. But is it really okay to give a human life to the Silent Ones as a toy?!# Arduan asked.

#Why is she going towards the House Of Silence now?# Oscar interrupted. #She was heading south just a minute ago.#

The four monstruwacan observed the fleck on the horizon gradually moving out of their view.

#Maybe they're calling her there,# Thomas answered quietly.  
He shivered, even underneath his armor. But the cold of the outside was not the reason. They all knew the legends and suspicions surrounding the House Of Silence.

#May the one true God of all things have mercy on us all,# Arduan muttered in reverence for the all-being.

* * *

 

For the first few days she was out here every dune looked the same to Shuang.  
When they exiled her they had taken her to a place near the great dunes. Telling her it was the safest place in the Nightland.  
She had wandered around without food or water after that, wondering what to do.  
But she found a carcass of a hell-hound with some meat still on it.  
Carving it with her knife she had nourishment for a few days. One good thing about the cold of the outside and the lack of sunlight was that things decayed very slowly.  
She was able to make a cup from one of the beast's tusks and used the warmth of the armor they had made for her to thaw patches of snow and ice.

Later, after much hard work she had managed to bury the beast's skull, heap sand on top of it and device a well-hidden entrance.  
This was her home now.

She did not have any pretty pets, but she wasn't alone out here.  
She was aware that most people would not be able to sleep out here with the monsters and the apparitions they created constantly talking to them, but Shuang had been used to hearing moaning and mutterings all through the night.  
Silence would wake her up. Silence meant the pets were trying to get away.

She had started to keep pets about a year after her father had stopped coming to feed her and play with her.  
She had been seven.

The first one was very pretty. She had been lucky to catch him. She had known how to deceive him and capture him. She had enjoyed his company, but he didn't last long. It had always puzzled her that they died so quickly. She had become better at keeping them over the years. Even though one or two still died way too fast sometimes. Natalia had died surprisingly fast.

#I can see you Shuang.#

#Come closer.#

#Your mother is here too.#

Shuang recognized Natalia's voice.

When she had been trialed they had told her that they had traced her parents.  
Her father had died in a swimming accident. He had drunk heavily before going to the lake.  
Her mother couldn't be found.

They supposed she had been an illegitimate daughter whom her father had hidden in one of the uninhabited apartments and raised there secluded from the rest of the Redoubt while her mother must have been powerful enough to make Shuang's birth records disappear and alter her own genetic data. It happened sometimes.

#Are you going to try to get into the Great Redoubt again tomorrow?# Oboch asked as he walked beside her with a big grin on his nose-less face.

She watched the strands of white ribbon she had stitched into his skull to compliment his beautiful purple hair.  
#I should have stopped at that,# She reflected.

She wasn't going to the blue-white house because they had asked her to.  
She wanted to know more about the monsters, but she didn't dare come too close.

#Don't come out when daddy's not here. Remember?#

#Let me go! Please, let me goooo! Aaaaaaah!#

She was going to try to learn about them by observing how they reacted to her actions.

When the road leading to the great blue-white house came into view she suddenly turned around and headed home again.

#Don't be afraid, Shuang. All of your pets are here.#

She walked in a wide bow around the monster to her right that was so gigantic it took her an hour to clear and crossed the road to fill the hollow bone on her back with water from the lake.

#Where are you going, Shuang?#

#I'm going to get very maaad!#  
Oboch's voice changed into that eerie booming sound again and she crouched low to the ground in fear with her back to the lake, but at least he wasn't with her anymore.

She became aware of another sound approaching her and ran into the lake. Her armor was waterproof, she had learned.

She ran several meters into the lake to where she could barely stand and pulled on her armor to create an air bubble before she ducked.  
Her heart was pounding in her chest. She had no way of seeing what was happening on the land so she couldn't know when it was safe to come up.

She quickly felt the water move towards her, coming from the land.  
Large limbs waded through the lake at a few meters from her and stormed towards the land again. She was absolutely terrified.

Were these hell-hounds?

She waited until she had run out of air and couldn't hold her breath anymore.  
Very carefully she moved her head back so she could get her lips to the surface just enough to breathe.

#Come here! Here she is!#

#You'll be devoured Shuang. You betrayed your parents and for that, you'll be eaten alive!#

#Go back to the Redoubt and beg them to take you in.#

#I'm right here!# A really scary voice said by the back of her head.

They were talking to her all the time during her blood-curdling ordeal.

She carefully looked around her.  
What seemed about six hell-hounds were running towards the west.

She got out of the water and walked straight towards the dunes.

#Tell us more about the great portal, Shuang.#

#You know, you better go back to the house, Shuang,# Natalia said as she stood waiting for her at the entrance to her home.

Shuang completely ignored her and got inside.

She knew nothing could get in here with her. And the walls of the hell-hound's skull were as thick as her body.  
In the skull, she was as safe as she could be out here. The monsters wouldn't stop talking, but it didn't matter in here.

She reached and took the hollow bone from her back.  
Then she opened her armor and got out of it.

It was cold. But it had been much colder back before she could sleep in her new home under the sand inside the skull.

She poured some of the water in her cup and drank. Then she ate a handful of the aleiwa berries she had picked on her way from the lake.  
She had felt surprised to find they grew out here when she first found them. But it was luck for her.  
Aleiwa berries were very nutritious. And she couldn't imagine killing a hell-hound on her own.

#You know we can see you everywhere.#

#Don't leave me, daddy. Please.#

Stupid monsters. She had never said anything like that! She knew she had always waited obediently.

#Stop making stuff up!# She transmitted loudly.#

#She should have been grateful instead of whining all the time! She was just a stray. Who would have taken care of her if not me?! Why won't you let me have pretty things?#

She had said that. At the trial. Shuang remembered herself pouting at the case presenter after she had said it.

She remembered the pictures of Natalia. Her long hair drooping over her face...  
She was most fond of the males in general, but she had just found Natalia and thought she was exceptionally pretty.  
She learned Natalia's real name at the trial. It was boring. She chose to remember her dear Natalia with the name she gave her after reading "The winter Princess" again.

She shouldn't have tried to make her pets prettier than they were.  
The trial had taught her one thing: If you try to make pretty pets prettier you'll end up ruining them.  
The reactions of everyone in the courtroom when they saw the pictures had told her that much.

She remembered Natalia's sister staring at her.  
Their eyes met as the civilian council representative announced that the decision had been taken to banish Shuang.  
Those eyes looked confused.

Pretty, sad, lost, betrayed eyes.

Those eyes looked as if life itself had told them a lie and they could never believe in anything anymore.  
Shuang wanted those eyes. She never wanted to forget them.

Natalia used to call out her sister's name sometimes. It was a pretty name.

More than Natalia, Shuang tried to remember those pretty eyes as she fell asleep all alone.

Without pets.

Without pretty things.

* * *

 

#You are disgusting.#

#Don't you ever wonder why your father never loved you?#

#Look Shuang! It's the people from the Redoubt! Maybe they want to let you in again?#

#Maybe they want to make you pretty?#

#When I get out of here, I'm going to tear you to pieces, you little bitch!#

Shuang had decided that she would test the monsters by completely ignoring them today.  
She had been suffering a headache all day. But she had made her resolve.

She had sat in the dunes, carving into one of the bones of the dead hell-hound's hind legs.  
Her plan was to hollow it out so that she could dig underneath it, bury it and turn it into a bathtub.

For now, she had tremulously decided to try the dangerous feat of quickly washing by the heat of the lava-stream leading near the great monster to the west of the Redoubt.

When she was brought here she had been terrified by the sight of those giants. By now, she had learned that they never moved as much as an inch. They did not even move their scary eyes.  
They just sat there, all five of them, staring at the Redoubt.

Shuang had never known such frightening things existed.  
If these giants would one day decide to attack the Redoubt simultaneously, they might destroy it completely and eat everyone inside.

#I'll come and eat you tonight, Shuang. Daddy will eat you tonight.#

#Why did you lure the person you refer to as 'Lord Heinrad' to your home?#

#Just go to sleep. It will look so pretty on you tomorrow.#

#We are not outside of you, Shuang Loncár. We are inside of you. And we will always be inside of you.#

She was starting to get too tired. She had to conserve her strength if she was going to task her courage so much later on.  
Deciding to leave the bone as it was, for now, she went back inside her home. She had made lots of progress anyway.

She sprawled herself on the fur of hell-hound inside its skull and got out of her armor.

They had deleted all the pictures and everything related to her pets, but contrary to her fears they had allowed her to take her data-cube with her.  
She hadn't expected that it would function outside of the Redoubt anyway, or not for long.  
She still couldn't be sure that it wouldn't one day stop working, but it had always worked inside and if it ever stopped there was nothing she could do about that.  
Better to enjoy it for now without worries.

She decided to read 'The Winter Princess' again. It had always been one of her favorites and the picture of Lord Heinrad finding Natalia in the blizzard and bringing her into his sled now reminded her of her pets.

The Winter Princess really was a classic romance, Shuang thought.  
The story of the young woman who through manipulation and deceit tried to tear the Kingdom of Denmark from the formation of the European Republic.  
Her seduction of the High-Commissioner Lord Heinrad and her downfall at the battle of Haderslev were some of the most beautiful things she had ever read.  
  
"After he had stripped the young woman of her last ounce of dignity and finally had her sign the agreement that saw her abdicate her throne and officially sold the freedom of the Danish people away forever, Lord Heinrad, without the least decorum roughly told her to leave the sled, mockingly bidding farewell to the Winter Princess," Shuang mouthed with glee.

Lord Heinrad did look wonderful with his dreads. Just like in the pictures.

It's a pity he died eventually, but the meat from his body did save her the store points she got from him and mounting him was fun.

By the time she had finished the story, it was about 15 hours according to her data-cube.  
Shuang dressed in her armor and hung her hollow bone on her back.

She climbed on top of the highest dune and surveyed the landscape. Seeing nothing to alarm her she ventured to the northwest, keeping close to the Redoubt.

#It is fun walking around together, isn't it?# Natalia said as she plodded beside Shuang. #You never took me anywhere when we lived together.#

Shuang didn't even look at her. But her headache got worse.

The Redoubt and it's guards came in sight, but she didn't want to come too close. Just walking in view of them made her feel safer, even though she knew that feeling was completely unfounded.  
She had seen hell-hounds hunt for the smaller creatures that hid among the sand.  
If one of them caught wind of her out here in the open she would be lost. But it did not serve to think about that or she wouldn't come outside but stay hidden and die in the skull.

Whatever happened, she wouldn't just die without trying to survive.

* * *

 

Towards the evening she approached the lava stream.

#Jump in, Shuang.#

#Aren't you afraid?# Natalia smiled.  
#I might PUSH you in!# She suddenly shouted.

Shuang's heart jumped, but she managed to control herself and looked around her.

The lava in the ravine below her lighted the darkness in an eerie red glow.  
Everything was quiet all of a sudden. She didn't like it.

Just as she was about to undress anyway she noticed a long shadow thrown on the opposite wall several meters further.  
Shuang carefully and quietly moved away from the chasm and walked around to the other side of the most narrow edge of the ravine.

Looking towards the side she had come from she saw a giant spider hiding under the edge that had been ready to pounce on her if she had ventured closer.  
While she caught her breath, recovering from the discovery she wondered why the monsters had suddenly turned quiet. Had they tried to protect her?

Hundreds of kilometers to the west the towering form of one of the giants rose up next to the long ravine, bathing in its light.  
Even though it was so far away it was so big Shuang could still make out it's shape in the distance.

Shuang looked around again and started to undress.

#Don't you dare look at me, you monster! When they find us my friends are going to tear you apart!#

#Please! Stop hurting me!#

#Why don't you come to me, Shuang? Those in the House Of Silence cannot be trusted. I will keep you safe.#

She poured some of the water in the hollow bone over her long, sticky, black hair and slimy skin and rubbed all over her slender body in the heat provided by the lava.  
Then she poured more water over herself to wash away the dirt.  
She felt her heart thumping and her head hurt terribly, but for the first time since the day of her banishment, she felt clean again.

Shuang quickly dressed in her armor.  
Just as she was about to close the mask she saw something move at the edge of the light the lava threw on a group of large rocks to her left.

She quickly closed the transparent triperin mask and stooped to pick up one of the stones lying on the floor. Her heart raced and she felt her blood freeze inside of her.

#I can see you Shuang,# A booming voice sang.

At the edge of the group of rocks a piece of cloth was visible, that was being illuminated by the red glow.

Scared out of her wits Shuang traced the shape higher up.

#Come a little closer, little girl.#

A tall shape was inching from behind the rock.

Her mind seemed to leave her as she saw the shape of an arm, then a shoulder.

#I'm so curious for you, Shuang. We haven't seen a human up close in forty years. Why don't you come over here?#

A single eye was revealed from behind the rock in a long face that gave her an unearthly leer.

Shuang threw the stone in her hand at the creature and ran towards the Redoubt with all of her might.

#Let me in! Let me in! Please let me in!# She transmitted in screams.

She ran on and on, not daring to look behind her.

#I almost got you, Shuang. I'm going to eat human flesh today. I'm going to grab you now!#

It felt as if she was flying.

As she fell down the pit, she felt the pain in her head and chest sting so much she couldn't keep her eyes open anymore.

Her consciousness lost...

* * *

 

Shuang slowly opened her eyes.

Right above her was the pale old sun with the dark fleck inside of it.  
She remembered the song her father had taught her when she was younger.

"Pale old sun, pale old sun, won't you shine on us again?  
Pale old sun, pale old sun, we would like to feel your heat.  
If we hold us to the pact, if we find the seven stars,  
Pale old sun, pale old sun, All might make you young again."

Shuang became aware of her surroundings again as she enjoyed the faint light shining high above her.  
She was lying on something soft.

Her body didn't hurt when she moved it and her head didn't hurt anymore either.  
What was still better: She hadn't been eaten by that monster.  
But when she moved, she felt constrained and that bothered her.

She decided to pull on her right arm with full force.  
Swinging her limb in front of her eyes she noticed a white thread sticking to it.

A horrible feeling crept up on her.

For the first time, she tried to move her head. Moving it forward was nearly impossible. Something kept pulling it down.  
She was trapped! Just as she had thought.

She tried looking to her left. That was easier.

To her horror but completely as per her expectations she found herself lying in a spider's web that was suspended from below the edges of the pit she had fallen in.  
If she couldn't find a way to get out she would be eaten anyway.  
She couldn't risk trying to detach herself by use of her right arm. She might get it stuck too.

"Urfffh."

A loud noise to her right made her blood chill.  
She turned her head fearfully and found the entire half of the pit to her right filled by an about twenty meters high giant.

#Where are you, Shuang?#

#We're going to find you.#

#Looking at the terrible wounds inflicted we can only conclude that she has no concern for the well-being of other living beings. The neuropsychological evaluation was clear about that.#

"Uuuurfh."

If this monster is alive and in here, the spider cannot be here. That desperate realization was the only thing saving her from fainting out of sheer terror.

Forcibly calming herself down, Shuang fearfully observed the monster.  
As she had unconsciously suspected, it looked like it was sleeping.  
She could only see its upper body, but it was very burly and muscular.  
The faint light of the sun revealed that its fur was grey and it had a large face with a thick protruding forehead lined with bumps the size of its eyes.  
A thick and long dark grey mane graced the back of its head.

His face reminded her of Mukisa Odoki from 'The Endless Voyage". That was a great show and she loved the music in it.

Ignoring her fear, she felt the monster was very pretty in the faint light of the sun.

She had seen groups of ab-humans from afar.  
One time a pair had seemed to hunt her, seemingly fired on by the monsters that talked to her, but when she got into her home they had lost track of her.  
Those looked ugly. Or maybe it was just her fear that had made them seem so.

#I miss you, Shuang. Please, come and play with me. You can stitch pearls into my arms.#

#Hey Shuang. How big was the room you lived in at home?#

#Let's go hunting tomorrow. I smell Shuang everywhere.#

Shuang tried to gauge how much room there was for her right arm between her body and the web by wriggling about.

She wasn't afraid of the spider anymore.  
From what she could see it looked like the monster had fallen in the pit before her and destroyed most of the web.  
The spider must have been hiding or gone.

Having reached a rough estimate she very slowly reached for her hollow bone and tried to pull it loose.

"Uuurfh."

After wriggling about with the bone for about a quarter of an hour she retracted her arm and rested.  
She hadn't been able to pull it loose, but it appeared her wriggling about with it had loosened the webbing that stuck to her left leg.

A sharp sound underneath her set her on edge. She looked to her right to find the eyes of the giant resting on her.

Mortal fear made her lie absolutely still.

"Uurfh."

The giant didn't do anything but stare at her for what must have been a full ten minutes.  
At times it seemed to Shuang as if he was looking straight through her.

#Do you need your hands?#

#Out here we eat every part of the body.#

#Come back to the Redoubt, Shuang!# She heard Natalia's voice. #We are all waiting for you.#

Shuang remembered the confused eyes of Natalia's sister.

Pretty eyes.

The monster violently swung a long arm up and brought it down with a clatter. Then the other arm followed the same movement.  
Shuang thought she was going to die.

"Hnng. Hnng. Hhhhn. Hhuuuhw."

Accompanied by loud grunts the giant just swung its arms and struck down at the ground.  
He wasn't trying to hit her. He was aiming at the ground next to himself.

Her fear temporarily suspended, Shuang now noticed that he was holding two long sticks, or what in his hands seemed like sticks.  
More careful observation revealed that they were spider's legs. Shuang appeared permanently relieved of one worry at least.

#What are you going to do with that?! Get away from me! You little monster! #

After a while, it appeared to her that the monster wasn't paying attention to her at all and generally didn't even care if she was there or not.  
He was just swinging with those spider legs for hours, grunting loudly while he did.

"Huuh. Hwaaa! Hhuuh. Hhuuuh, hnggh."

Shuang decided it might be safe to continue trying to pry herself loose.  
Spider's webs decayed. The spider must have been dead for a day at least.  
Eventually, the web would become fragile enough to pull apart with little force. But how long would that take?

#We are going to take a walk, Shuang. Care to join us? Daddy is here and mommy too.#

#I want to see you again, dear girl... #

Towards the evening she hadn't made much more progress.  
The monster had stopped drumming and was sucking on one of the legs.  
Her headache had come back.

She felt tired and trapped and didn't have any hope of survival if the monster did decide to eat her.  
She had no sensible reason not to close her eyes.

* * *

 

The next day she continued trying to wriggle herself loose. She was still hungry and thirsty but working at least kept her from getting too cold.

The monster slept in like before. She had decided to call him Kujou.  
He looked more like Kujou than Mukisa after all.  
By the time he began drumming again she had managed to loosen her left leg a little more, but not by much.

"Huuuh. Hnhg. Huung. Hhaar," Kujou grunted.

It was comforting to have a pet again, but she had to get out if she wanted to eat and drink.  
It was so frustrating that she had both on her body, but couldn't reach either.

Suddenly a violent sound made her look up. All kinds of projectiles were descending towards her.  
Frightendly she closed her eyes and desperately protected her face with her right arm.  
She felt her body being lowered as the projectiles came down and felt one hit her on the stomach.

"Whaaaa! Whiiii! Huuuuhwwaaa!"

Kujou sounded furious. Shuang felt scared. She had no idea what had happened.  
She looked to her right and saw her new pet erect himself to his full length. He was truly enormous. Much bigger than a hell-hound.

"Hwaaa! Hhuuuu! Hwiiii!"

He punched down on the edge of the pit in full fury, making the rocks and sand come down. Then he climbed out while making loud, angry noises.

The most immediate threat gone, Shuang looked around.  
She had been lowered a meter or so and noticed she had a little more freedom of movement.  
A piece of hard material was lying on her body. She felt its sharp edges with her right hand and got an idea.

Cutting strategically at the webbing she was able to free her left arm. Then she freed her left leg and later her right.  
She was only attached to the web by her back now.

She took her time estimating the depth of the pit. She now hung in a vertical orientation and had a much better view of the pit.

As she had suspected, the spider's limbs and carcass lay where Kujou had sat. It appeared that one of the legs had broken because of his constant drumming, and, shattering into pieces, it had cut holes in the web while one of the pieces had landed on her stomach which had been well protected by her armor.

She carefully cut loose her hollow bone so that it wouldn't be stuck to the web as she jumped down.  
Just a few cuts and...

Shuang landed and rolled onto the bottom of the pit.  
She got up and looked around but there didn't seem that there were any threats nearby.

She quickly drank the remaining water in her hollow bone, gratefully swallowing, even though it tasted stale by now and was half-frozen.  
She took the berries from her back pocket and stuffed them in her mouth, enjoying their sweet-savory taste.

#Shuang. I found you, Shuang. Daddy's coming for you.#

#The report from the monstruwacan guard shows that her last victim had been cut open almost the moment she got her hands on her. Look at the injuries she sustained because of Miss Loncár's torturing of her.#

#Daddy will you come tomorrow? You know it is my birthday tomorrow.#

Shuang heard a noise coming from above. To her surprise, Kujou had come back and crawled back into the pit.

She quickly scattered to the wall farthest away from him to avoid being flattened.

"Huuuh. Hnng."

Kujou was looking around at the spider's remains. Anywhere but at her.  
As before, he didn't seem to care at all about her presence or absence.

Contrary to any other creature she had come across since she had been exiled he hadn't tried to catch her. Nor had she heard the monsters fire him on to eat her or in any way betray to her that they were aware of his presence.

She observed his pretty face as he took two other spider legs and sat down again.

"Huuhn. Hiin. Heeei! Hnnnh."

He drummed happily on the floor like before, pausing only to suck at the legs he was drumming with.

#Dumb Kujou,# Shuang thought to herself. #You're going to break those legs again if you keep sucking them.#

Curiously, she slowly wandered closer to her pet.  
His back was close to the heap of sand and rocks he had knocked down.  
She went and crawled up until she was at shoulder height.

"Huuh. Hnnh. Huh. Hww."

One unintentional movement might be the end of her, but he wasn't in the habit of doing much more than pounding those spider legs against the ground.

With an anxious heart, she carefully stepped onto his left shoulder. Ready to jump off at any moment.  
She could pull his hair if she wanted.  
That would be dangerous.  
She had another purpose.

"Hello, Kujou. My name is Shuang," She called into the ab-human's ear.

She jumped back onto the heap of rocks as he moved his head and grunted.  
It wasn't a violent reaction, but it revealed that he was clearly not deaf.

#Daddy misses you sweetheart.#

#Do you know where you are?#

#We don't know what your father has told you about the Redoubt.#

Shuang considered her next action. She carefully got onto Kujou's shoulder again and spoke at a farther distance from his ear.

"You're like me! Aren't you Kujou. You're different from everyone else."

"Huuh. Hnhh. Hgn."

"And you can't hear what the other monsters transmit, don't you?"

Kujou kept drumming his spider legs undisturbed.

"But why?"

Shuang caressed her pet's neck.

"I wish you could teach me. I'm already getting a headache again."

#Blow my ass! Oh, mother! Oh, mother. Get her from that ceiling! Oh, mother! You little monster! What did you do to them?!#  
#They're all dead, Luteni!#  
#These people are mounted! You little monster!#  
#I was only making them pretty!#

Shuang looked up at the edge of the pit.

"Maybe we can make our home of this pit, huh Kujou? You seem to like it here."

"Huuhn. Hjn. Hhuuuh."

"We would have to get my skull here. I don't know how I'm going to get you to do that. But I will not be able to do it without your help."

"Huun. Hnng."

Shuang looked down at the remains of the spider.

"That carcass isn't strong enough to protect me. And I can't expect you to always be with me."

She took another handful of berries from her back pocket ate them one by one.

"These are the last ones. Tomorrow we'll go picking new ones together."

* * *

 

After having dug herself a hole in the ground at the edge of the wall furthest from Kujou, Shuang slept refreshingly, waking up to the pale and inadequate light the weak sun threw on the Nightland again.

She sat for a while, observing her sleeping pet.

Suddenly she heard a slight sound to her left.  
One of those small hairy two-legged creatures was walking around on the floor of the pit.

Stealth is the foundation of hunt.  
It wasn't paying attention to Shuang who was largely hidden from sight by her makeshift recess and the remains of the webbing.  
Only now and then looking up at Kujou.

#Why don't you try to ask the guards to let you in again?#

#You smell so tasty, Shuang.#

#You know you have friends out here. Come to the House Of Silence, Shuang. We are all here.#

Shuang noiselessly stole to one of the shattered pieces of spider leg and crouched low to the floor.

The creature stole to one of the spider's legs near Kujou and started licking at it.

Shuang used the curve of the pit to get closer unnoticed.  
She felt the transmissions of the monsters grow quiet as she got up to two meters from the creature.

Kujou moved his arm and the creature ran towards the web.

Shuang jumped forward and grabbed it by the arm, slicing with the sharp edge of her tool at its neck. A spray of blood came squirting out while the creature struggled to escape.

"Huuhn. Hnng."

Kujou woke up.

The creature clawed at her, but its nails were like feathers to her armor. Shuang kicked it down and gave it another cut at its throat.  
She rolled the creature over and sat on top of it, holding its head up by the horns and working with her tool to cut it off.

Kujou quietly watched the spectacle.

When the creature stopped moving Shuang paused to catch her breath.

"Look, Kujou! I caught a scuffler. I can eat some meat again. Things have only been getting better since I met you. I'll give you some scuffler meat once I filleted it."

Scuffler was a good name for these creatures, she thought.

#The monsters are going to attack the Redoubt tonight, Shuang. You need to come to us as fast as possible.#

#You are here because nobody loves you.#

After some work with her knife, she managed to divest the scuffler from its skin and bones and cut the meat in chunks.  
Kujou played with his drumsticks while she chewed on the tiny shreds of flesh she had cut for herself.  
Raw meat was better than nothing.

It didn't taste as sweet as the hell-hound's meat, but it wasn't as sinewy either. She could leave some portion of it to age. Maybe it would get juicier that way.

While Kujou took a break she carefully brought a few chunks of the meat and threw it inside one of his drumsticks.

"Here's your portion, Kujou. Enjoy."

She wrapped the rest of the meat into a bunch of partially decayed webbing and buried it near her sleeping-recess. Then she climbed on top of her pet's shoulders again.

"You know, Kujou. Back when I was killing that scuffler I managed to block out the monsters a bit. But I don't really understand how I did that."

#It's almost time to hunt. Tonight we are going to come out all at once,# A scary voice whispered.

Shuang peered through the darkness above her.  
"I'm not afraid of you," She stated with a defiant look.

Kujou took his spider leg and swallowed the meat inside.

#What were you thinking while you were making your pets pretty?#

#We are just going to do a series of tests now, Shuang. The machine is going to observe everything that happens in your brain. Just try to do what we ask you to the best of your ability.#

Shuang sat down and focussed on what the telepathist had told her was the "safe" zone of the brain. She concentrated until she was dizzy.  
The transmissions became quieter, but she couldn't block them out like she had when she was hunting.

She caressed Kujou's neck to ease herself again.

After drumming for a while he startled her by getting up and she hurriedly climbed into his manes.

"Hey! Where are you going?" She asked.

* * *

 

She saw the red glow of the lava behind her receding from view while Kujou walked towards the dunes.

"Are you bringing me home?" She asked.

She looked towards the Great Redoubt as they passed by, smiling to herself as she recognized the spire and the row of guards in the distance.

#What would they think if I approached them on Kujou's back?# She pondered with a big grin on her face.

#Tell me, Shuang. What are you doing up there?#

She looked down and saw Lord Heinrad walking next to Kujou.

#They can see me again,# She reflected. #I didn't see anybody when I was in the pit. They didn't know where I was.#

#You should really come to the House Of Silence. Aren't you getting lonely?# Heinrad asked.

Shuang closed her eyes and imagined herself stalking the scuffler, fighting it down and taking its head off.  
She enjoyed the thrill of the battle.  
When she opened her eyes again and looked down, Heinrad was gone and her mind was quiet.

Kujou had reached the dunes and crouched. He looked like he was waiting for something.

"What's going on, Kujou?"

She was close to her home now.  
Looking around from up on Kujou's shoulders Shuang saw the remains of the hell-hound in the distance.  
She jumped off and allowed her body to glide down the dune opposite Kujou's back.

As soon as she landed Kujou got up and walked away.

"Hey! Where are you going?"

She ran after him, but he was too fast for her and disappeared behind some dunes. At last, she gave up the chase.

#At least I'm home again,# She comforted herself.

When she got halfway to her home she heard a strange noise and quickly buried herself in one of the dunes.  
Trying to calm her heartbeat she waited until she finally heard a body moving past and sniffing about.

Then a violent battle began.

Two or more bodies pounded against the dunes. Luckily the battle gradually moved away from her, but she knew it was best not to run away now.

"Aaaaaaii!"

"huuuuwa!

"Hrrrrtng!"

"Huwwwwaaaa!"

'Haaaaaiiii!"

A loud bang against the floor and something big ran away fast.

"Hrrrrng."

Something was breathing heavily and a hell-hound was growling.

Then the sounds of battle continued. Until finally, after a loud grunt, everything went quiet.

Shuang waited a while longer.

"Huunn. Hnng."

She thought she recognized those grunts and cautiously crawled out of the dune.

Several dozen meters further away an ab-human was tearing off the hind leg of a hell-hound.  
She thought it was safest not to try to find out whether it was Kujou.

She arrived in her home and fell asleep like a log.

* * *

 

#You are still alone.#

#We know where you are.#

#Why do you insist on disappointing me, Shuang?#

All of her water was gone and she was out of berries.  
The first thing to do for now was to get water at the lake and pick more berries.

#I've been messing about far too much,# Shuang reflected. #Once I got food and water I need to get myself a weapon and a way to carry more water home.

She got out of her skull and was dumbstruck, finding Kujou sleeping a few meters further with the corps of the hell-hound he killed last night.  
Knowing he wouldn't wake up for a few hours she started for the nearest forest of aleiwa bushes.

A group of the turtle-like creatures with the long necks was feeding themselves on the bushes when she arrived, but they never bothered her.  
She just walked among them, picking berries while they ate.

She has considered taking a branch and planting it near her house. Aleiwa berries could grow anywhere she had read once, and them growing in such abundance out here was proof of that alright.  
But she enjoyed the visit to the forest, even if it wasn't the safest place if none of the other herbivores were around.  
And having aleiwa bushes at home would attract prey for the hell-hounds.

It was safer, after all, to do things this way.

She suddenly realized she could fill her bone with the berries and carry a week's ration home.  
She might cut some meat from the hell-hound but wasn't sure whether Kujou would share.  
This way she had time spared she could use to work on her bath.

On her way home she remarked how much better she was getting at blocking the transmissions of the monsters.

A patch of ice she found that had formed in a puddle was a nice treat, but she still had to go to the lake.

When she came home Kujou was awake and drumming with the legs of his hell-hound.  
Blood was spilling all around him, but due to the cold, it wasn't as much as it could have been.

She got into her home and watched a movie on her data-cube while eating her berries and licking her ice.  
When she got out Kujou was still enjoying himself.  
She carefully came closer to the hell-hound lying at a few meters distance from him to test whether he would take offense.

Then she realized that the animal wasn't dead yet.  
An almost inaudible whine came from the mouth of the white-furred creature. Its eyes were half-open.

It looked really pretty.

Shuang felt drawn to the pretty thing.  
Its jaw was dislodged.  
Very pretty.

Shuang took her piece of spider leg and came close to the hell-hound, approaching it from its hind.  
So pretty.  
It would be interesting to see how it looked with shorter ears.

As it's whining became more anxious Shuang sliced into one of the beast's ears, cutting it into fine ribbons.

Her tool was very sharp. It would work well as a weapon too. Perhaps she didn't have to look for another one.

The creature tried to bite at her, but it was too exhausted even to move it's pretty head and its jaw was of no use to it anyway.  
It had also lost three of its legs.

She approached its eye and started to carve a beautiful pattern into its skin radiating out from the eye.  
She was turning it into a really pretty pet. It whined so preciously.

"You are going to look so nice when I'm finished, you know." She smiled cheerfully.

Now those teeth could be placed further apart from each other. If she could take out a few of them that would be beautiful.

A thud made her jump up. Kujou was crawling towards her. It was a strange and normally terrifying sight. But she had become so accustomed to him, and he didn't seem to have any bad intentions.  
He crouched down like he had done last night.

Somehow she got the feeling he was waiting for her to climb him.  
She looked around for a place to step up from. There was only the hell-hound.  
She ran up the suffering body as fast as she could and jumped onto Kujou's back, running until she was safe on his shoulder.

When he got up she climbed into his mane again and held on tight.

#Come to us, Shuang. We have lots of pretty things for you.#

#Why do you want to get back into the Redoubt so badly. The House Of Silence is so much nicer.#

#All of your friends are here.#

Shuang imagined the hell-hound.  
The pretty patterns she gave it.  
The ribbons she had cut into its ears.

It was such a pretty pet.

Those pretty eyes.

Pretty confused eyes...

* * *

 

They had passed the lake and the House Of Silence a while ago. It was getting late.

While hanging up there she had manufactured a kind of sleeping harness out of Kujou's manes. She would be safe and warm in there.

Traveling across the Nightland at this height she could see that there was a lot more life and movement out here than she had assumed.  
Far away in the south at the other side of the lake, she had seen the contours of a gigantic city.

Creatures of all kinds were traveling this dark and cold land all the time.  
Shuang wondered whether the people in the Redoubt were aware of all that was out here.

She didn't mind not knowing where Kujou was heading toward, but she wished she had a way to make him stop if she wanted to.  
For now, she would get some sleep. There was nothing else for her to do at the moment.

* * *

 

They had been traveling for weeks.  
Every now and then Kujou would rest or hunt and Shuang took the time to find water and gather berries though Kujou let her eat what he had killed. He could go without food for a longer time than she, so she had to gather provisions.

After they crossed the mountains there had been a land with shrubbery and trees other the aleiwa bushes. There were more creatures here and Shuang spotted what seemed like villages here and there in the distance.  
Perhaps the monsters lived there, she wondered.

After that, they traveled over a landscape of ice, that seemed to last forever.  
There were still creatures here though few, and sometimes there was even precipitation. Something that was very rare and short-lived in the land surrounding the Redoubt.

When they finally crossed the ice-desert they had to cross mountains again, but Kujou knew a gorge they could pass through.  
The gorge led down to a wide vale with lots of creatures, more villages and a lake larger than the one near the House Of Silence.

Weeks had turned into months.

Shuang was a very long way from home now, but she did not mind.  
Since the pit-incident, she had taken her data-cube with her wherever she went. And with that, her knife and weapon, rations, her armor, and her pet, she had everything she needed to make a home anywhere.

One time they were being approached by a group of ab-humans. Shuang hid deep in Kujou's mane.  
She was feeling worried they might fight him, but Kujou treated them as much as air as he did her and after a few grunts and looks, they let him go on his way.

She had thoroughly learned to shut out the monster's transmissions by now.  
She hadn't been bothered by them for weeks, although she sometimes listened, out of curiosity.  
They didn't seem to talk to her directly anymore, but for a few times. Perhaps they had given up on her or lost track of her.

The vale ended at a steep upward slope.

Shuang was unsure whether it was a good idea to climb it. They might find a less dangerous climb somewhere further along the mountains. Kujou knew the terrain however and found a hidden recess that led to a tunnel through the mountains.  
It took them a while to get to the other end but when they got out there was a wide landscape before them.

Now the monsters seemed to have lost track of her, Shuang decided not to speak out loud anymore so they wouldn't be able to find her that way.

#Is this where you wanted to come, Kujou? It seems just as barren as the land of the Redoubt. We would have a better time back in the valley. Even though it seems safer out here.#

They found themselves in a rocky desert with creatures here and there, bushes of aleiwa berries here and there and some village on the far left of them.

Shuang got onto Kujou's shoulder and pressed the hide of an animal she had killed and filled with aleiwa berries to his nose.  
The giant crouched down next to a dune as trained so that she could get off.

This was the time silently agreed between them for hunting and gathering. After Kujou had eaten his prey's limbs Shuang would fill it with berries.  
He liked to tear the flesh of the stomach and back and have the flavor enhanced by the berries.

Shuang was looking at a strangely shaped plateau a few hundred meters distant from them while her pet enjoyed his dessert.  
She couldn't tell why, but it seemed very peculiar to her.

For now, it was getting late, so they might as well sleep here.

After he had finished his meal Kujou crouched for her and she got into the harness she had made of his mane.  
To her surprise, he started to bury the remains of his prey safe for a few of the bones.  
Then he walked straight toward the plateau.

#What are you planning, Kujou? It's late you know? Might as we get some sleep, because I will.#

Shuang rested her eyes and fell asleep while Kujou plotted on.

Not that much later she woke up.

Kujou was standing completely still.

#Kujou? What's going on?#

They found themselves surrounded by tall rocks.  
Even though she waited a while Kujou wouldn't budge.

Shuang got out of the harness and got onto her pet's shoulder.

#Are you sleeping?# She asked.

In front of them was the entrance to a cave.  
Kujou seemed like he was listening for something. They remained in this situation for a while longer.  
Then Kujou walked on, into the cavern.  
He crouched and picked up a bone that he seemed to have thrown in earlier. Then he walked on.

After a short while, they started to ascend.  
Kujou's footsteps sounded different on the ground. It was warmer here than it was above ground.

Shuang peered around her.

Compared to the dark shimmer outside, in here it was totally pitch-black. But much like when she was left alone in the dark for the first time she felt surprised at how quickly her eyes adapted and how much she was able to discern.

They had stopped ascending and were moving deeper into the cavern. The cavern was wide and Shuang saw all kinds of strange things.  
At one moment she got frightened by what looked like a creature looking up at them, but while seeing it disappear into the surrounding darkness as Kujou plodded on it reminded her of a robot from a movie.

They moved into another cavern and then another and then Kujou sat down. Laying his bones down beside him he closed his eyes and fell asleep. After some consideration, Shuang did the same.

* * *

 

She woke up from a dream about Oboch crying for her to stop stitching pearls into his back. When she had finished he looked just like in the movie. Really pretty.

Shuang opened her eyes and looked around.

In a far corner of this cavern was a big vehicle. Very large boxes lined the walls up to the ceiling.

Shuang got out of her harness and let herself slide down Kujou's arm onto his lap. From there she jumped and rolled over the dirty floor.  
The floor didn't seem like the floor of a cavern. It had a different feel to it.

There were lots of different things strew about on the floor.

She bent down and picked up something that reminded her of the pressure blasters she had seen in old movies.

#Bweew. Bweew,# She went, pointing the device into the distance.

Lowering her arm, the outline of a door gradually became clear in the opposite wall.

She looked up at Kujou. He would be sleeping for a while.

This wasn't a cavern. They were inside the hangar of a large building or spaceship.

Shuang looked around the floor, searching for a weapon.  
Her piece of spider leg had disintegrated over time and the ax she had devised was a good tool for hunting but not really suited for defending herself.

Over by the vehicle, she found a large contraption in one of the seats. She held it in her arm and pointed.  
It seemed intended for ejecting something and had a fairly voluminous magazine attached to it.

She looked the thing over. Altogether it was as large as her arm.  
She pointed the device at about two meters distance from one of the containers and pulled the trigger.

Bveam!

A projectile came out and planted itself in the wall of the container.  
Shuang smiled.

She came closer and carefully touched the projectile. It had worked itself about two centimeters into the wall.  
She pulled on it and couldn't get it out.

* * *

 

Shuang walked slowly through the hallway behind the door. Along her way, she could hear some small things scuttle away, but she could discern nothing bigger than her foot.

There were several doors in the hallway.  
Behind one of them, she found a bunch of stuff that seemed like it was intended for cleaning.  
Behind another one was a kitchen.

At the end of the hallway was a door on the side. Like all the others it was open.  
Every door in this building had a simple slide and lock mechanism, similar to the doors in the Great Redoubt.

She went up the stairs to the second floor and went down another hallway.

This one was more interesting. It was full of apartments.  
In one of them, she found a mechanical device that could make light and she made grateful use of it.

The rooms were very pretty. They had soft floors and V-walls which she recognized from old movies and had beautiful pictures and decorations.

One room had a case with all kinds of jewelry and ribbons.  
She braided a strand of hair on the left side of her face with a cute red thread. It looked beautiful in the mirror attached to the lid of the jewelry case.  
Shuang smiled at herself.

After that, she went higher and further. At the farthest end of the ship, she came into the command room.

This was not a building.

The command room was wide and empty. Like every other room, it was spotless.  
Everything neat and tidy.  
Looking like it was ready for its maiden voyage apart from the obvious damage you could find here and there wherever you went.

A big fight had happened aboard this ship, but there was no trace of skeletons or the like.  
Only the hangar was a mess, probably because of Kujou and the small creatures that ran around on the lower deck.

Strange.

* * *

 

Shuang came back to the hangar to find Kujou playing with his bones. She took a mouthful of aleiwa berries and drank.

#Is this your home, Kujou?#

She pointed the light around while walking and found several old bones and broken spider legs strewn about in the corners of the other hangars.

The robot scared her for a moment. He had probably been used to stack the containers.  
She wondered whether she might find some information about it on her data-cube that could teach her how to make it work.  
Its power source must still be intact.

There were probably generators or batteries somewhere on board the ship. Perhaps she could make it her home too.

* * *

 

#What did you think of the stuffed scuffler, Kujou?# Shuang asked while looking for prey as they climbed the hilltop in front of them.  
#I'm so glad I was able to make that big oven work with the battery I found.  
An entire fully loaded Titan-shuttle power-container! We're going to have cooked meals for a long time.#

She had worked hard on producing a harness made of the reels of thread she had found in one of the containers. It had to look exactly like his fur and not constrict his movements so that the monsters wouldn't be able to notice anything peculiar about him. Other than the general opinion that he was a weirdo, which they already had.

Shuang had noticed that Kujou could generally go where he wanted among his kind. He totally ignored them and they just grunted and sniffed and let him be.

She had made herself a good vantage point for hunting about the height of his chest. Nobody could see her, but she had a good view of everything thanks to the goggles she had found in the ships security room.

They had lived for a few months now in the ship and she had made some very pretty stuffed scufflers and bagoons. She decorated the creatures and put them in the various apartments, pretending to go on visits as the captain.

She had learned a lot about fourth-millennium technology from her data-cube. She had also discovered that the device was solely empowered by her own mind.  
Her father must have told her that when she was little, but apparently she had forgotten.  
If it hadn't been for her data-cube the ship might have been as good as the desert to her.

#Where are you taking me for hunting today, Kujou? We've never been here before.#

Another wide valley stretched out before them. A faint light far to their left made her suspect another lava-ravine over there.

The landscape below them was dotted with dunes and hills. Shuang surveyed the landscape carefully, her goggles providing a bright outlined image.  
Then her eyes landed on the gigantic structure in the middle of her view.

She thought her mind was playing tricks on her from home-sickness

It wasn't as big as the Great Redoubt. Maybe one tenth in size if that. Far to the right of it, she could make out another structure.  
The outline of another monster-city.  
But apart from that, there were no giants or other structures, save perhaps a few small villages.

It was definitely there.

A Redoubt. Made from the same blue teal alaiscäl.

A Redoubt, inhabited by people who probably didn't know who she was or what she had done.

They would have told her about this if they knew it existed and had contact with its inhabitants.

#How would you like living among humans, Kujou?# Shuang smiled.

They probably wouldn't let an ab-human in. But that was a worry for later.

And even if they didn't... she could get other pets.


End file.
